


As It Should Be

by lilolilyrae



Category: James Bond (Craig movies), Sherlock (TV)
Genre: 00Q - Freeform, Bondlock verse, Established Relationship, Johnlock - Freeform, M/M, Q is a Holmes, background Mycroft Holmes/Greg Lestrade
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-08-29 07:26:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16739668
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilolilyrae/pseuds/lilolilyrae
Summary: "You haveanotherbrother??""Well... To be fair, his existence is a government secret."





	As It Should Be

**Author's Note:**

> 2018-12-05  
> DISCLAIMER: I own neither Bond nor Sherlock or any of the other characters, I'm just having a little fun with them. Oh, and I didn't come up with Q's given name either I just remember reading it in other Bondlock fic :) if it was your idea first, let me know! I think Mycroft's codename is from canon somewhere? Honestly don't remember. 
> 
> I wrote the first draft of this in the middle of the night after already being half asleep and therefore having weird ideas. Tried to make something out of it... Enjoy!
> 
> 2018-12-07  
> Beta read by me, this time awake xD  
>  ~~And there'll be a podfic version of this soon!~~
> 
> Podfic version of the fic [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041309)!

" _You have a brother??!?_ "

The shout is so loud that John jumps at his own voice, hoping that he didn't give Mrs. Hudson a heart attack.

 

"Well, you have already been well aware of Mycroft's existence, so really your question should-"

"Sherlock! You know exactly what I mean, don't be so pig-headed playing like you don't get what I'm trying to say! You have _another_ brother??"

"Well... To be fair, his existence is a government secret." 

John can only gape at him.

 

 

And so it comes that, after a few (and a few more) explanations, John and Sherlock get on their way to visit Sherrinford "Q" Holmes in his apartment in Kensington ("You have a secret brother that I didn't know about and _he lives in London,_ Sherlock??!?").

Mycroft comes along as he gets wind of it, because of _course_ he does.

 

Upon arriving at the apartment building, Sherlock leads them in a funny zig-zag through the parking garage to the back entrance. 

John doesn't even question his antics anymore, but Mycroft sighs.

"Really, Sherlock? This is supposed to be for emergencies only, you don't want our poor little brother to have to redouble his security efforts again for nothing, do you?"

Sherlock shrugs and pulls them behind a column until a security camera has turned away. Mycroft mumbles something that sounds suspiciously like " _Once little children, always little children_ ".

John tries to catch up with the conversation, then frowns.

"Wait- this is for emergencies? _This_ -" he gestures with his hand behind them to indicate their way of arrival, but Sherlock snatches the hand out of mid-air to stop him from alerting any motion sensors.

"This _definitely_ not at all suspicious and time-consuming _whatever_ this is, is supposed to be for emergencies? As in, the things where everything's usually very time-sensitive?!" John half-whispers, half-shouts.

"You don't have to whisper." Sherlock says, ignoring the question and motioning for them to keep going. Honestly, whenever he gets into one of his people-ignoring detective moods, John has to briefly wonder why he loves the man. At least as long as he's not busy getting hot and bothered by how graceful and efficient Sherlock is at everything he does...

Grabbing John's Hand and dragging him of a flight of stairs, Sherlock finally grumbles "Later."

Mycroft takes pity on him.

"It's a way to ensure the family- well, the two of us, really- have a way to get in touch with our dear brother if for some reason we cannot contact him through more ordinary means, and can't simply walk in through his security measures" he explains.

John throws a look at Sherlock. While he had been assumed dead- while he hadn't been able to contact him, or anyone else, had he...

"I wouldn't ask." Mycroft suggests.  
John wholeheartedly agrees.

Sherlock, of course, has already moved further and started disabling what looks like a complicated IT security system, and- a gnome robot with laser eyes? Alright?

Well, John supposes he shouldn't have expected the third Holmes brother to be any less weird than the rest.

 

 

 

As the three of them finally enter the penthouse flat, the door closing behind them and shutting out the noise of the city, they freeze in their tracks.

There are sounds coming from inside.

Moans, to be exact.

 

After a second, it gets obvious that the moans are the sexy and not the murderous kind, and John moves to retreat- he really doesn't want to listen in to Sherlock's little brother having sex without ever having met the man.

No, scratch that, he doesn't want to listen to any of Sherlock's brothers having sex, period. 

But before he can back away through the door or motion for the others to follow him, Sherlock grabs his arm.

"Wait..."

Slowly moving a hand towards the door, he seems to feel for something in mid-air before quickly retreating. 

"Robbery alert- in case someone technically allowed inside decides to take off with government secrets." he says quietly. 

While John is stuck mouthing 'Government secrets??', Mycroft sighs. "So we're stuck in her to wait for them to stop and find out that we are here, unless we want to make it even more obvious what we have heard by sounding an alarm?"

"Basically, yes" Sherlock turns around and inspects something under the door. "It's the cornea sensor that I can't fake on short notice, I could try to surpass it but it'd be risky..."

Mycroft shrugs out of his jacket and moves into the living room to the right of the entry hall. 

"Well, I suppose all we can do is get comfortable, hope it will be over soon and pretend like this isn't awkward at all."

 

Sherlock and John share a look.  
  
Then they both decide to agree with Mycroft's decision as the lesser evil- and after all, given that it _was_ Mycroft who decided to stay, they'll still be able to blame it on him should it prove necessary. 

 

The outline of the flat places kitchen and living room opposite to each other, by the flat’s entry and the furthest away from the door at the end of the corridor- the bedroom, John presumes… or hopes, given that he doesn’t quite feel like considering the possibility of Sherlock’s little brother having possibly kinky sex somewhere other than the bedroom.

Right as he thinks that, the noises in the room get louder, verifying that there are definitely (at least) two people going at it in the bedroom- two _men_ even.

Maybe John should ask Sherlock about whether the Holmes’ brothers not being very heterosexual could be something genetical or just a coincidence. Even if Sherlock doesn’t know the answer, he’ll probably try and see it as an experiment, and if it’ll lead to him pestering Mycroft for a few days then that’s already a win.

 

 

Sitting down next to Sherlock, John doesn’t know what to do.

The living room doesn’t have a door, and the noises from down the hall are still very obviously there.

 

Sherlock is looking straight ahead, probably lost in his mind palace somewhere and able to ignore the sound. Right then, John really envies that skill.

Mycroft, for his part, is looking at his phone, years of political scandals having trained him in pretending not to be interested in the Elephant in the Room.

 

After a moment of John fidgeting in his place on the banquette, Sherlock blinks and looks at him.

“Are you alright?”

 

John shoots him a grateful look. “Sure… just, you know, I don’t exactly have the power to just forget the things I don’t want to remember”

 

Sherlock cringes slightly and nods. “How about some tea?”

 

 

Ignoring Mycroft and his phone, the two of them move to the kitchen, and Sherlock closes the door behind them.

 

The sounds turn much more muffled.

John sighs, relieved.

 

"I forgot that you aren't able to block out your senses the way I do", Sherlock says.

From him, that's basically an apology. 

John smiles.

“Thanks, Sherlock”

 

Sherlock turns around to busy himself opening random cabinets, but John knows him well enough to sense his embarrassment.

Hugging him from behind, he leans up and presses a kiss to the back of Sherlock's head, then letting go and shuffling him aside.

"Here, let me..."

 

After quickly finding tea and kettle- because yes, John is definitely more of an expert on how human people function and store their things than Sherlock is, thank you very much- and waiting for it to brew, there's really not much reason left to keep hiding out in the kitchen.

Getting a few cups down onto a tray, John makes a face at Sherlock. 

"Maybe they've, uh, finished?"

Sherlock just shrugs.

 

 

...They haven't finished.

John burrows his head in his arms on the table, completely ignoring the tea in front of him. 

How did he get himself into this situation? And how _long_ are those two going at it in there!? A quick glance at his wristwatch tells him that mere minutes have passed since they first entered the flat...

Still. It certainly _feels_ longer.

 

  
The sounds of sloppy kisses and gasps get louder as the movements of skin on skin seem to speed up, then there is silence.

After a moment, the voice of a young man can be heard, accompanied by a laugh.  
  
_"How do you not get sore muscles from holding that position for so long, love?"_

 

John cringes at the mental challenge of not thinking about just what kind of position the man might be talking about... 

Mycroft, however, is far more concerned with another part of the sentence, and it even makes him put down his phone.

 _'Love?'_ he mouthes at Sherlock. "I was not aware Sherrinford is seeing anyone, much less him being in a relationship this serious!"

Sherlock just shrugs. He likes Mycroft thinking that he neither knows nor cares about their baby brother's romantic affiliations- in reality, of course, he wants to stay updated on everything going on with his family members, just to be able to act correctly in case of an emergency.

And while he had figured some time before that Sherrinford might be seeing someone, it does bother him that he had never been able to deduct just whom it is.

 

  
From the bedroom comes a mumbled reply they can't understand.

Then another kiss- and, finally, movement.

  
Two men exit the room, moving along the hallway, still oblivious to their unannounced visitors.

John painfully refrains from looking at the doorway.

 

 

 

* * *

* * *

 

 

Oh, Q loves shagging James...

Well, he loves James in general, too, but after having his brain fucked out by his lover it's hard to think about anything else.

There probably is a stupid grin on his face, but Q really doesn't care.

 

As James pulls out of him and lays him onto his side on the bed, Q groans, then giggles. "How do you _not_ get sore muscles from holding that position for so long, lovve?"

 

James just smiles, taking a cloth from beside the bed and gently cleaning him up.

"Those muscles are not just for you to look at, darling" he mumbles into Q's ear, laying down next to him.

 

Q snuggles up closer to James, stroking a hand over his chest and nosing at his jaw, allowing himself a moment of basking in the afterglow.

James' hands are touching him, fingers curling in his hair, and Q lets out a purring sound in contentment. 

They both have to get up sooner or later, Q has a project to finish until the day after tomorrow, and James has to read through the details of the next mission he will be supervising...

Yes, supervising, not be sent on, because even a double 0 agent is forced to slowly get acclimated to retirement, and as James is already a good ten years older than the average active field agent, his time in the field has been cut in half, M's orders.

Not that Q will complain, if it means that James' way home to him is the minute long walk to Q-branch instead of an international flight.

And James is adapting to his new roles well enough... Better than expected, really, and Q can't help smugly thinking that he might have played a part in that.

 

Hoisting himself up on his left arm, he presses a soft kiss to James' lips.

"Want some tea before you have to head back to HQ?"

"Sure" James pulls him close for another kiss before letting him go and leaving the bed after him.

 

They don't bother with clothes, to comfortable in their own space...

And it's only when they're already halfway through the hall that Q senses that they aren't as alone as they thought they were.

He can feel Bond freeze next to him, immediately in double-o mode, grabbing the weapon concealed behind a modernist painting on the wall- a hiding spot that's easy to find, but accessible only by both of their finger prints.

Slowly, they inch closer.

And then Q sees who is sitting at their dinner table, and freezes completely. 

 

 

 

  
"So you have finally decided to join us?"

Mycroft Holmes is sipping from a cup of tea, looking as if he belongs there.   
  
Q squeaks and holds his hands in front of his privates, stepping in front of James and l shuffling him back into the bedroom.

 

"I take it, they're not a threat?" James asks, pulling up his eyebrows.  
  
"No," Q answers, taking in deep breaths: "at least not in the way you mean: they're my brothers."

He takes a sock from the ground and throws one at James.

James blinks at him as he catches it out of mid-air.

"Okay. Now I'm hurt..." He tries to say it with a laugh, but Q sees in the way his eyes get colder that it is a bit too close to the truth.  
  
"I'm not kicking you out!" he hisses quickly. "Just, better look decent when you meet my family for the first time?!"

He notices how harsh he sounds, and then he notices that he is shivering-

James touches his shoulder, trying to comfort him, but Q shakes him off.

He can't even put a finger on what exactly has gotten him all riled up just now, but somehow the thought of Mycroft, Sherlock, and who has to be Sherlock's boyfriend slash roommate slash weird detective partner sitting in his living room, while he is here with James- and possibly, no, _definitely_ having _heard_ them earlier- is making him freak out.

James moves away, but slowly and with a questioning look on his face... Q pushes away his pride and grabs his hand, drawing him close.

As James' strong arms envelop him, he feels himself letting out a breath he hadn't noticed he had been holding. 

Even after all those years, after all his own achievements, being the youngest and trying to match the expectations his brothers set for him is making him want to disappear in his room and not come out until they've left and he doesn't have to think about it anymore.

He knows it's not their fault- not really their parents' fault, either, just other people's hushed and whispered opinions, or the teacher that said how Q at least was a normal kid- which in Q's mind, of course, just translated to _negative_ and _ordinary_ \- leading to a bad case of imposter syndrome.

He hasn't really talked to anyone about it, except for the psych department at six.

Maybe, now, he'll tell James...

But that's a thought for later. 

 

"Can you even stay? If you have to go back to HQ, I'll definitely be able to deal with them on my own"

"I already got most of the Intel yesterday, I'll text Tanner that I'll be late. Unless you'd rather want me to go?"

"Definitely not" Q mumbles, and James holds him even closer.

 

 

 

After a moment, the two of them finish collecting their clothes, then opting to take a quick shower- Q figures that the unannounced visitors don't deserve them hurrying too much to meet them.  
  
As they get dressed, James asks him about the men in the living room.

"So, you have three brothers...?"

"Two" Q replies, toweling of his hair and trying to turn around his right sock so it's sitting correctly with the left foot at the same time. "And I have no idea what they're thinking, showing up here uninvited. The guy at the front must by a boyfriend... Haven't met him yet either."

"Maybe they want to introduce you to him?" 

"Mhm" Q mumbles noncomitically.

 "And they managed to get into the flat without either of us noticing... How exactly?"

James is still a little shook by that fact.

Q groans.

"I think it's better for you to just meet them... Hand me my pants?"

 

 

 

 

As they enter the kitchen, Sherlock and the man that must be his boyfriend are still sitting at the table, now deep in conversation. 

Mycroft is exiting the kitchen with a fresh kettle of Earl grey, raising an eyebrow at Q's appearance before letting his eyes flicker over James.  
  
"Decided to crawl back out of your room and introduce us to your friend, brother dear?"

"He's quite obviously my boyfriend" Q grumbles, suddenly feeling faint. "What are you guys even doing here?" he asks, his voice wavering slightly.

He's grateful for James' hand on his back steadying him.

 

  
"Deduct, brother, deduct" Mycroft says complacently while placing the kettle and two more cups for him and James on the table.

Q sits down, feeling uncomfortable in his own living room sitting on the side of the table he doesn't usually sit at, and motions for James to join him while studying Mycroft.

"...you came to check up on me, alerted the new alarm and couldn't get back out, and decided to stay as the least bad option." He concludes dryly. "I need tea to deal with this. And spiked one."

Mycroft rolls his eyes and hands him the bottle of scotch. Q is glad he doesn't make a comment on how he 'can't possibly be old enough to drink yet'. That had gotten old about ten years ago.

 

"Nearly right" Sherlock answers him instead, the first time he's speaking to him since they arrived. "We didn't come to check up on you, John wanted to get to know you."

Q sighs. "Yeah, James already guessed that."

"Your boyfriend." Sherlock says with a look that's way too curious for his own good.  
  
"Don't pretend like me having a boyfriend is any more surprising than you having one!" Q snaps, perhaps a bit too harsh, but he tries not to regret it.

"Why's that?" Sherlock asks.

Q rolls his eyes. "Honestly, before you met the guy I didn't know you had _emotions_!"

That one's a thing they have been bickering about since they were kids and therefore all in good humour- but Q does shoot a quick look at John, he doesn't want to break him and Sherlock up after all.

The guy doesn't seem to be offended though, actually snorting in his tea.

"I think the only person who always thinks you have emotions is Mrs Hudson, Sherlock"  
  
"Who?" asks James, utterly confused and having given up on being properly introduced into the conversation. Not that he blames Q for it, though.

"Our landlady" John explains.

Q raises an eyebrow at Sherlock.

"How he manages to live with you is something I understand even less than him liking you enough in the first place..."

"Are we interviewing me now?" Sherlock asks, and Q grins.  
  
"Whatever. Anyways, this is James, I know him from work-"

"Double-o-seven. We know." Mycroft says, as if hadn't just found out about that via his secret government version of google. 

  
John gapes at them. "Wait- you said you know _him_ from _work_? Who of you Holmses _isn't_ the government?"

Snorting, Sherlock points at Mycroft. "He's the government, we just have his contacts."

"So this is why you're a government secret?"

Q blinks. "I'm not really a government secret... I mean, sure, my identity is one I guess..." He doesn't usually think about it like that, though. 

Thankfully, James breaks the silence right that moment.

  
"You're Sherlock Holmes! And you are _Antarctica_? Q- _those_ are your brothers?" 

Q squirms in his seat. This is exactly the kind of comparison he is always afraid of.  
  
Mycroft, however, groans: Sherlock has perked up at the mention of his MI6 codename.

"This clears up quite a few holes in my timeline about you..." He takes out his phone.

Q frowns, then gets what Sherlock is talking about, and a grin spreads over his face.  
"Antarctica, huh?"

Mycroft sips from his tea in a way he probably thinks looks sophisticated, but they all know he's sulking. 

James raises his eyebrows.  
"You keep your codename secret from your brothers, but they know that you're 'the government'?"

Mycroft waves his hand in disdain. "I only tell them- hey, Sherlock, are you texting Irene now?!"

Sherlock shrugs. "It's only fair, isn't it? We could tell Grant too, if you want."

"His name is Greg!"

"Who? Are there even more siblings?" James is really trying to keep up with those names, but it proves harder than some missions he's had in the past.

John and Sherlock both answer: "Our girlfriend"

"And his boyfriend." John adds, pointing at Mycroft.

"Okay... You guys seem interesting."

James leans closer to Q as he says it, though- definitely more intimidated than enamoured with the other Holmes' brothers. Q can't help but feel a little smug at that.

  
Mycroft looks James up and down.

"And you seem alright yourself. As long as you treat our baby brother right-"

Exasperated, Q interrupts him: "Mycroft!"

"You'll always be the baby of the family, and deserve to be treated gently, is all I'm saying" he shrugs and places his cup of tea down on the table. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have important matters to attend to. If you would be so nice-" 

He motions for Q to safely unlock the door, who does so- but not before giving his brother a hug. 

"Thanks, you know, for coming to say hi. But seriously call ahead next time!"

"I think we all certainly learned our lesson" Mycroft says, face all scrunched up. "But maybe you can visit Sherlock next time?"

"How nice of you to invite someone to _our_ place" John points out, before turning to Q. "But yes, sure you can come!"

Mycroft shrugs of the criticism. "Please, we all know Sherlock loves being the centre of attention. Have a nice evening!"

And with that, he's gone.

 

James and Sherlock have meanwhile started talking about one of Sherlock's latest cases- apparently, it's interconnect with a mission James was involved with a while ago.

Yes, Q actually remembers this, he hadn't supervised it himself but the way R had been close to a nervous wreck at the end of it had been quite memorable.

 

Smiling awkwardly at John, Q sits back down. 

"Um, hey. So, you've wanted to meet me?"

"Well, I was a bit shocked to find out that Sherlock had another brother I hadn't known anything about" John says with a laugh. "So, what exactly are you doing with the secret service? Or is that a secret as well?"

"Just don't tell anyone, I guess?" Q shrugs. "I mean, Sherlock trusts you, so... Anyway, I'm doing IT work, I'm basically a hacker supporting the field agents."

"He's the leader of the department!" James interrupts before John can reply. "Saving lives on a daily basis!"

Q blushes and rolls his eyes, but Sherlock agrees with James:

"He has been recruited in quite an unusual way, too, skipping the usual process entirely and being drafted right out if college after pointing out several security flaws in their internal system."

Looking at John's confused face, James adds: "He hacked the MI6. At seventeen."

Trying to escape their looks, Q blurts out "Anyone wants to eat something? It's nearly lunchtime" and skips into th kitchen to grab the takeout menues before anyone can answer.

 

Of course, the flaw in this plan is that after the food is delivered and Q doesn't have an excuse to hide out in the kitchen any longer, John and Sherlock stay even longer to eat.

Buy the conversation is pleasant, ranging from gossiping about Mycroft over funny stories about their lives to world politics- a topic Q is glad they all agree on: Trump sucks. 

 

Taking a break from talking and actually eating his Thai, Q watches Sherlock and John interact with each other.

They seem good together- good for each other. Q smiles quietly. With how happy he is recently, he's glad that life is good for the rest of the family, too.

Halfway through their lunch, Sherlock's phone beeps with a lead to a cat-fur-smuggler he a John have been going after for some reason- after that, they file out pretty quickly, saying their goodbyes and having Q promise to come visit them as soon as he has a little freetime. 

 

 

 

As they're gone, Q let's himself fall into James' waiting arms, letting all the air out of his lungs with an 'ouf!' before turning around and burrowing his face in James' neck.

"Do you get why I don't voluntarily take free time to be able to meet people?"

James laughs. "They aren't that bad?"

Q shrugs. "Sure, they're both bloody geniuses..."

"Well, I guess that runs in the family" James says lightly. 

Q squirms at that, and James frowns, gently holding Q's chin up to look at his face. 

"Q? Everything alright?"

"Sure, I just- I always get compared to them, you know? After all, I _am_ 'the baby of the family', and everything I achieve they probably already achieved twice..." He trails of, looking away and not quite knowing how to put his feelings into words.

After a moment, James bends down to press a gentle kiss to his lips, then looking him straight into the eyes. 

"Well, I understand not wanting to compare you with them, but it's not because you're less than them in any way, but because you're not comparable."

"James-"

"No, let me finish! I'm sure they both did great things in their youth, but did either of them hack the MI6 before graduating college? And now, yeah, Antarctica- uh, Mycroft- has control over most of the British government-"

"All of it." Q points out.

"-over the British government, then- but he never saved the life of an agent who already thought for _sure_ not to have any way out. And Sherlock, he might also do good deeds with his detective work, but if you want to talk numbers, I bet he hasn't saved as many lives as you have. And-" he raises his voice a little when Q opens his mouth to interrupt again,

"and even when you can't save a life, you're giving your best, all the energy you have, to give the agent another second to breathe, another moment to live, and to make it as painless as possible. And when you're not leading any active missions, you're running your department more smoothly than some managers who are just paid to do that! You have so many skills, Q, you don't give yourself enough credit for them."

Stroking the back of his hand over Q's face, James smiles softly.

"And you are the most amazing person I know, my love."

 

Q feels tears welling up in his eyes, but after that speech he doesn't even have it in himself to feel ashamed for it.

"I- thank you," he mumbles, letting James hug him close. "And I'm sorry that I never told you about this before, or properly introduced you to them..."

"You don't have to apologise, love. I'm just happy you told me now" James caresses his back, and Q feels calm in a way he doesn't usually after freaking out the way he has. "And I can already tell you that there are still some... Things... From my past that I haven't told you yet, either. Not because i don't trust you, it's just..."

"It hurts to think about it?"

"Exactly. So- I definitely understand you." He kisses Q's head. "You don't have to worry so much!" he says with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood.

Q boxes him into the side, but he's smiling.

"I'll try. Now come on, help me clean up those plates and then go see Tanner before he comes visiting us too-"

Q tries to squirm out of James' embrace, but James twirls him back around, grinning.

"Do I at least get a kiss before I serve and bow to your will?"

Q laughs out loud and let's himself be drawn in, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss...

And if James arrives later than expected to his meeting- well, it certainly isn't Q's fault.

 

* * *

 

_THE END_

 

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be short, funny and mainly 00Q?? What happened? XD
> 
> Thanks for reading, you funky little humans, aliens or AIs! Let me know if you liked it :)  
> Also do tell me if you find any typos etc!
> 
>  
> 
> Podfic version of the fic [here](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041309)!
> 
> You can also find me on tumblr @lilolilyr (as long as that hellhole of a website is still running) or on instagram @lilolilyrae and fangirl or share an existential crisis with me!

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [PODFIC of As It Should Be](https://archiveofourown.org/works/18041309) by [lilolilyrae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilolilyrae/pseuds/lilolilyrae)




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